Annual Report 2005–2006
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05 06 NATIONAL NATIVE TITLE TRIBUNAL CONTACT DETAILS Annual Report 2005–2006 Tribunal National Native Title PRINCIPAL REGISTRY (PERTH) SOUTH AUSTRALIA 4th Floor, Commonwealth Law Courts Building Level 10, Chesser House 1 Victoria Avenue 91 Grenfell Street Perth WA 6000 Adelaide SA 5000 GPO Box 9973, Perth WA 6848 GPO Box 9973, Adelaide SA 5001 Tel: (08) 9268 7272 Tel: (08) 8306 1230 Fax: (08) 9268 7299 Fax: (08) 8224 0939 NEW SOUTH WALES AND AUSTRALIAN VICTORIA AND TASMANIA CAPITAL TERRITORY Level 8 Level 25 310 King Street Annual Report 25 Bligh Street Melbourne Vic. 3000 Sydney NSW 2000 GPO Box 9973, Melbourne Vic. 3001 GPO Box 9973, Sydney NSW 2001 Tel: (03) 9920 3000 2005–2006 Tel: (02) 9235 6300 Fax: (03) 9606 0680 Fax: (02) 9233 5613 WESTERN AUSTRALIA NORTHERN TERRITORY 11th Floor, East Point Plaza 5th Floor, NT House 233 Adelaide Terrace 22 Mitchell Street Perth WA 6000 Darwin NT 0800 GPO Box 9973, Perth WA 6848 GPO Box 9973, Darwin NT 0801 Tel: (08) 9268 9700 Tel: (08) 8936 1600 Fax: (08) 9221 7158 Fax: (08) 8981 7982 NATIONAL FREECALL NUMBER 1800 640 501 QUEENSLAND Level 30 WEBSITE: www.nntt.gov.au 239 George Street Brisbane Qld 4000 National Native Title Tribunal office hours GPO Box 9973, Brisbane Qld 4001 8.30am – 5.00pm 8.00am – 4.30pm (Northern Territory) Tel: (07) 3226 8200 Fax: (07) 3226 8235 QUEENSLAND – CAIRNS (REGIONAL OFFICE) Level 14, Cairns Corporate Tower 15 Lake Street Cairns Qld 4870 PO Box 9973, Cairns Qld 4870 Tel: (07) 4048 1500 Resolution of native title issues over land and waters. Fax: (07) 4051 3660 Annual Report 2005–2006 Resolution of native title issues over land and waters. About this report While required to report to the responsible Minister under s. 133 of the Native Title Act 1993, the primary purpose of the annual report of the National Native Title Tribunal is to inform and be accountable to, firstly, the Parliament, and secondly, its stakeholders about the services provided. The Tribunal is a statutory authority and is therefore not compelled to observe the annual reporting requirements for government departments; however, it chooses to do so. This annual report in book form is typeset in Palatino 10/13 point. Copies of it may be obtained from any registry of the National Native Title Tribunal (see back cover for contact details) in either book or CD-ROM format, or online at <www.nntt.gov.au> in html format that may be enlarged to suit the reader. The online and CD-ROM versions of the report also include a PDF version for downloading. We draw attention to the online versions for those readers who prefer to enlarge the type and who may prefer to choose particular parts of the report for downloading. Upon request, the text of this report in whole or in part can be supplied free of charge in braille. The National Native Title Tribunal encourages readers to make comment on the usefulness and contents of the report. Please forward any comments to Tim Evans on freecall 1800 640 501 or email [email protected] © Commonwealth of Australia 2006 ISSN 1324-9991 ISSN 1445-7776 (Online) ISSN 1445-7784 (CD-ROM) ISBN 0-642-48744-8 © Commonwealth of Australia 2006 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at <http://www.ag.gov.au/cca>. PAGE ii 22 September 2006 The Hon. Philip Ruddock MP Attorney-General Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 Dear Attorney I am pleased to submit to you, for presentation to the Parliament, the annual report of the National Native Title Tribunal for the year ended 30 June 2006. This report has been prepared in accordance with s. 133 of the Native Title Act 1993. Yours sincerely Graeme Neate President PAGE iii Contents About this report . ii Letter of transmission . iii List of figures . .vii List of tables . .vii President’s Overview . 1 The year in review . 1 Introduction . 1 External factors affecting the Tribunal . 3 Trends within the Tribunal . 13 Context of native title . 20 Legal context, community attitudes and the projected workload . 20 Native title is not a panacea, but other outcomes can be negotiated . 22 By-products of native title . 24 Native title and whole-of-government service delivery . 26 Governance issues before and after determinations of native title . 28 Customary law and native title . 30 International law developments and native title . 31 Conclusion . 33 Tribunal Overview . 35 Role and function . 35 Tribunal members . 37 Organisational structure . 38 Outcome and output structure . 40 Report on Performance . 43 Financial performance . 43 Outcome and output performance . 45 Overview of current claims . 47 Output group 1—Stakeholder and community relations . 50 Output group 2—Agreement-making . 57 Output group 3—Decisions . 69 Management . 81 Corporate governance . 81 Members’ meetings . 81 Strategic Planning Advisory Group . 81 Agreement-Making Liaison Group . 81 National Future Act Liaison Group . 82 ILUA Strategy group . 83 PAGE iv Research Strategy Group . 84 External Relations Working Group . 85 Tribunal Executive . 86 Role and responsibilities . 86 Senior management committees . 87 SES remuneration . 87 Corporate planning . 88 Management of human resources . 89 Learning and development . 89 Workforce planning . 90 Indigenous employees . 91 Indigenous Study Awards, traineeships and cadetships . 91 Indigenous Advisory Group . 91 Occupational health and safety performance . 92 Performance of disability strategy . 92 Certified Agreement and Australian Workplace Agreements . 93 Certified Agreement 2003–2006 . 93 Workplace agreement negotiations . 93 Employee survey . 93 Australian Workplace Agreements . 93 Risk management . 94 Information management . ..